Medical students are NOT superhuman:
My experience in medical school without a perfect memory!
By: @ZuFutureSurgeon
Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to graduate medical school and become a doctor while having the worst (ok, slight exaggeration) memory in the world? I have, many times over because becoming a doctor have always been my dream, cliche, I know.
Some people assume that just because you’re a medical student, your memory has to be perfect. How else could you possibly memorise all those huge textbooks, right? The thing is, it’s not the case at all, not for the most people anyways. Sure, there are gifted students with a photographic memory or an unbelievable ability to recite long lists of numbers, capital cities or tongue-twisting enzymes. BUT the vast majority of us struggle with those things as any other “mortal” would.
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Obviously, it’s different for everyone. Human memory is still such a mystery after all. Some people are really good at mastering song lyrics and birthday dates but can’t recall where did they spend the holidays a year ago. Others yet can describe in detail what they were doing on Wednesday the 5th five months prior but ask them what they had for dinner last night and they’ll have no clue.
Then there is me, who can’t tell you any of the above! I can’t even remember people’s names after being introduced twice within an hour. Surprisingly, I’d never had any problems at school, even though I admittedly wasn’t always working my butt off. I had great marks and ultimately got into medical school at first try. Shortly before starting university I found myself wondering again, will I be enough for medical school? I knew that my memory is bad so I thought that maybe I was just lucky before and now the truth will come out and everyone will realize how terrible my learning and remembering skills are? I decided to ignore those considerations and work hard to pass all the exam. (Editor note: Impostor syndrome is rampant in medicine!)
Easier said than done of course because, regardless of what you may have been told or imagined, medical students are NOT superhuman! They aren’t some mystical creatures for whom the ability to find motivation for regular studying is some birth-given attribute.
In the beginning, I was revising and making notes almost every day, as advised but after around one month I became my old, lazier self. I started watching tv shows, going out with friends and doing all the things that students do. Study hard but party harder, no? I was still passing all the test though, even when some of my friends, who had studied way harder, were failing. Therefore, I kept telling myself that simply because I study medicine, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be enjoying it.
My conclusion, regarding my memory, was that apparently I have remarkable yet short (and selective) memory when needed, enhanced by logical thinking and a little bit (more like a lot) of intuition and you know what? That was enough. I’m in my 5th year now, still loving and enjoying the student’s life to the fullest. I don’t study every day and I’m not always perfectly prepared. This doesn’t stop me from still being an active participant of morning rounds with doctors and professors.
Did my memory improve? I don’t think so but studying medicine is about so much more than just that! Revising, rereading, listening to your teacher’s comments, to patients, learning from hands-on experiences, analysing and thinking critically, all of it matters. Each medical student may be better at some of those things than others. If you’re willing to work hard enough to find your own way of dealing with the process of surviving medical school, you’ll be perfectly fine, too.
In the real world, no one will expect you to memorise the whole Pharmindex or be able to recite all the enzymes involved in Kreb’s cycle from the top of your head. That’s what guidelines and textbooks are for. As a doctor, you will be expected to first and foremost THINK on your own. Having important stuff memorised by heart is useful and important but it’ll come with time and practice, you can as well enjoy the journey. No amount of stress will make it any easier, quite the opposite.
@ZuFutureSurgeon is a 5th-year medical student, in love with surgery from day one! Also addicted to coffee and way too many books and TV series. Never says no to dance parties and spontaneous trips!
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Memorization is WAY overrated.
I consider myself to have a decent short term memory (on things I want to remember) and had gotten through high school and college never really studying until the night before and still aced the exams.
Medical school was the first time where the volume of material was so much that it was not feasible to pull an all-nighter the night of an exam and expect to do well so I slowly had to retrain my study habits.
The truly useless stuff that medical school and the USMLE steps force you to memorize (like the Krebs cycle) really irked me. I’m a board certified radiologist practicing 15 years and not once did the Kreb cycle have any bearing on my medical practice.
I think it might be a weeding out process but there are better ways to select who will be a great physician, and the ability to memorize is not one of them.
If I vaguely recall something I need from my medical school/residency days, guess what? I google it. My office space has my PACS station right next to a PC where I can go back and forth getting information I need when something beyond the standard bread and butter cases comes along.